June 4, 2018

Cheesy meatball casserole. I made a huge batch of meatballs right before Eva was born as part of my stock-the-freezer project, and I finally used the last of them this week.

This recipe is a no-brainer--meatballs, pasta, sauce, and plenty of cheese make for a delicious casserole any which way you combine them. I seared the meatballs and soaked the pasta before mixing them with the sauce and ricotta, and the result was a creamy, salty, meaty exemplar of comfort food.

You can use whatever pasta shape you prefer, I'm sure, and homemade sauce would make this even better. I like the presence of ricotta in the filling, but it probably isn't essential if you don't have any; cottage cheese would make a good substitute.

This child wants to put her feet on everything.

As it turns out, having a bunch of meatballs in the freezer is a very good thing--not only are they a quick and easy fix when you're short on time, but they can also turn into something extremely delicious! We had them atop spaghetti, baked with mozzarella and sauce, on subs, and as a casserole, and I can state with certainty that it was worth standing at the counter for half an hour hand-rolling each one!

Directions:
In a large saucepan, saute the meatballs in a little bit of oil until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.
Heat the marinara sauce in a large pot on the stove, then add the seared meatballs to the sauce, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Soak the pasta in hot salted water for 30 minutes, then drain, cool slightly, and stir in the ricotta cheese.
Heat oven to 400 degrees F and spray a small (1-1/2 to 2 quart) casserole dish; set aside.
Add the pasta to the meatballs and sauce and spoon everything into the prepared dish.
Top with the mozzarella cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Garnish with basil and serve.

You know I got many packages of chicken meatballs for a sponsored post (all pre-cooked even) and I loved having them in the freezer for so many dishes like this! (And really how much more special is spaghetti with meatballs rather than ground meat in the sauce...) . What brilliance to do your own--then I could have them even eating locally!